Coin wrapping machines wrap stacks of like-diameter coins with coin wrapper sheets and secure the wrapped sheets around the coin stack without the use of adhesives or glues. An example of a coin wrapping machine that machine-wraps coin stacks is disclosed in Tsuruda et al U.S. Pat. No. 6,519,921.
Coins are formed into a stack. Paper is fed off a roll to the coin wrapping machine. Before being wrapped around the coin stack, a length of paper is cut from the roll to form a coin wrapper sheet. The coin wrapper sheet is fed into the coin wrapping machine and is tightly wrapped around the coin stack. The upper and lower ends of the wrapped sheet are crimped by crimp claws to mechanically secure the wrapped sheet without the use of adhesives or glues.
FIG. 1 illustrates a typical coin wrapper sheet 110 cut from the paper roll. The coin wrapper sheet is cut using a “V” shaped cutter that forms a “V” shaped leading end 112 and a corresponding “V” shaped trailing end 114 in the sheet 110. The point of the leading end “V” precedes the rest of the sheet into the coin wrapping machine, and the essentially straight surface edges or legs 116, 118 of the trailing “V” end 114 trail the rest of the sheet into the coin wrapping machine. The coin wrapper sheet typically includes printed indicia indicating coin denomination, manufacturer information and/or trademark, and the like.
Typically fifty-pound weight kraft paper is used for wrapping US quarter-dollar coins and larger diameter coins, and forty-pound weight kraft paper is used for wrapping smaller diameter coins. Coin wrapper sheets can be formed however from any suitable planar or sheet material including plastic films, other types of paper sheets, and the like.
After wrapping and crimping, the coin wrapper sheet 110 is tightly wrapped around the coin stack to form a cylindrical tube 120 surrounding the coin stack. FIG. 2 illustrates the sheet 110 wrapped around a coin stack to form the cylindrical tube 120, the opposite ends of the tube 120 being crimped in a conventional manner.
The tube 120 extends along a longitudinal axis 122 that coincides with the longitudinal axis of the coin stack. The sheet 110 is wrapped in a wrapping direction around the axis 122. The leading end portion of the sheet 110 is over-wrapped by the trailing end portion of the sheet. The trailing “V” end 114 of the sheet 110 and the trailing legs 116, 118 are on the upper surface of the tube 120 and overlay a lower sheet surface of the tube 120.
The upper and lower ends of the wrapped sheet 110, including the trailing ends of the legs 116, 118, are crimped over the ends of the coin stack to resist unwrapping of the tube 120 and to prevent the coins from falling out of the open ends of the tube 120. The crimped portions of the wrapped sheet 110 extend around the tube axis 122.
The legs 116, 118 extend continuously from end points 124, 126 at respective crimped ends of the wrapped sheet 110 around the tube axis 122 in the direction opposite the wrapping direction to a common end point 128 at the tip of the trailing “V” 114 at the axial midpoint of the coin stack. That is, the tip 128 of the trailing “V” 114 is displaced opposite the wrapping direction some angular distance from a straight line joining the points 124, 126.
Wrapping and crimping the sheet 110 urges the trailing sheet end taut against and around the coin stack. Each leg 116, 118 is placed in tension from the respective crimp points 124, 126 to the common end point 128. The tension urges the uppermost exposed sheet portion against the coin stack and keeps the uppermost exposed sheet portion taut against the coin stack.
The tightly wrapped and crimped tube 120 is difficult to open to release the coins. It is difficult for a person to pry the trailing sheet end 114 away from the coin stack when attempting to break or tear the coin wrapper sheet 110 to release the coins from the tube 120.
Many persons strike the middle of the coin stack against an edge of a cash register or till to break the coin wrapper sheet 110 and release the coins into the register or till. The impact of the coin stack may, however, cause damage.
Other persons use the tip of a knife or other cutting blade to cut through the coin wrapper sheet 110.
Yet other persons use their fingers to attempt pulling on the trailing end 114 and thereby unwrapping the coin wrapper sheet 110. The “V”-shaped wrapper trailing end 114 is tightly stretched against the coin stack. The crimped upper and lower sheet ends resist attempts to raise the trailing end 114 away from the coin stack. It is often difficult to obtain sufficient purchase to tear open the coin wrapper sheet 110 by pulling on the sheet end 114.